Landing-gear for aeroplanes.



L. s. ALLEN. LANDING GEAR- FOR AEROPLANES.

APPLICATION FILED' AUG. 10. [ENG- Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

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LANDING GEAR FQR AEROPLANES. APPLICATIQN FILED AUG. 10. I916.

Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

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Inventor: L/a d 5- /7//6/7 by WM Atty LLOYD S'.. ALLEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LANDING-GEAR FOR AEROPLANES.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

Application filed August 10, 1916. Serial No. 114,131.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LLOYD S. ALLEN, a itizen of the United States, residing at New York, N. Y., have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Landing-Gear for Aeroplanes, of which the following is a clear, full, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improvement in aeroplanes, and particularly in the landing gear thereof, and has for its objects the provision of means whereby the landing gear may more efliciently check the progress of the machine when on the ground, but to retard the machine as little as possible, when and 4. The showlng of the supp rting in the air. l

A further object is to provide a landing gear which may be folded up against the body of the aeroplane .when in flight and which is easily adjustable by the operator so as to be held both in its lower position for alighting on the ground, and in its upper folded position for traveling in flight.

A further object is to provide braking means in combination with the landing frame, which will be automatically applied by the pressure of the machine on the ground to exert a checking effect both at the fore part and at the after part of the machine. The application of such'a braking means thus tendsto prevent the machine from plunging its nose into the ground due to'sudden checkingforward, and also from throwing its head upwardly due to too sudden checking of the after part of the machine.

Further objects and advantages of construction will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of my invention, which preferred embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of-so much of an aeroplane as is necessary to show my improvement attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a detail front elevation of the landing frame looking in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 1; v

Figs. 3 and 4 are detail vertical sections taken at right angles to one another of the brake for the landing wheels;

Fig. 5 is a partial plan view of the aeroplane body showing the controlling devices;

Fig. 6. is an enlarged cross section of the elastic retaining band for holding the landing frame in adjusted position through line 6-6 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 7 is a detail section showing the position of the retaining band when holding the landing frame down;

Fig. 8 is a detail top view band;

of the retaining Fig. 9 1s a detail of the brake prevention device, and

Fig. 10 is a detail section of the upper end of a slidable extension from the landing frame. 1

Referring more particularly to the drawings l indicates the usual bodyportion of an aeroplane having the usual propeller 2 and rear steering and elevating rudders 3 planes has been omitted as being unnecessary for an understanding of the present invention. Mounted at the fore part of the body 1 is a landing frame comprising a rearward extension 5 pivoted at 6 upon the body, and a forward extension 7 slidably guided in the body 1, said vextension preferably being curved in form. the radius of which has its The upper end of each extension 7 passes within the body 1 and is slidably engaged with guides12 in-the bottom wall of said body, as shown in Fig. 7. The upper end of each extension 7 also is provided with a curved socket 13 cutaway at one side. Upon each side wall of the body 1, as shown in Figs. 5 and 8, is an elastic retaining band 14 fastened at each end to eyes 15 and 16 riveted in said body '1. The retaining band 14 is preferably formed of a series of rubber bands bundled together as shown in Fig. 6. An embracing strap or collar 17 for said band is connected to a controlling cord 18 which leads to a lever 19 located adjacent the operators seat 20, whereby each retaining band 14 may be pulled laterally toward the center of the machine when desired. Each retaining band tends to lie in ,the position shown in Figs. 5, 7 and 8 due to its elasticity, and when the extensions 7 are down as shown in Fig. 7, the retaining bands 14 will move into the sockets 13 of said ex- The operation of the landing frame is as lower po-- follows: Assuming it to be in its sition shown in Fig. 1. If then it is desired to elevate the frame so as to fold it against the aeroplane body, the operator first swings lever 19 so as to pull on cables 18 and stretch the retaining bands 14 laterally away from their position within the sockets 13 ofeach extension 7. The operator then winds the drum 23 by handle 25, which pulls on the cables 22 and elevates the landing frame. Since each extension 7 passes up inside of the retaining bands 14 so asto keep them in stretched outer position, the pressure of the retaining band against each extension 7 is suflicient to hold said retaining frame in its of Sn upper position. In order to drop the frame, the operator merely pulls each retaining band 14' away from its frictional engagement with each extension 7, and thus the frame is allowed to drop by gravity and each retaining band is then released to rest within its socket 13. W

Each landing wheel 11 is preferably proan invided with braking means, such as ternal brake 26 as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. operating cable 27 leads from each' brake upwardly around a pulley 28 adjacent the .pivot 6, and then rearwardly to a ring 36 (see Fig. 5). From the ring 36 a cable 27 leads rearwardly around a return pulley 29 (see Fig. 1) and is connected to the up er end of a skid 30, pivoted at 31 at the after part of the machine. Interposedin cable 327 is a spring 32 and a turn buckle 33 for taking up theslack in said cable. It will be obvious from this construction that whenever. the tail skid 30 is pressed againstthe ground by the operator, for instance by the operation of the elevating rudders 4 so as to cause a depression of the tail of the machine, then the swinging of saidtail skid 30 causes tension to beapplied on the brake cables 27 27 for applying the brakes 26 on the wheels 11. This causes a checking of the progress of the machine both at the forward and after parts thereof, which is very desirable to prevent pitching of the machine either up or down when 00111111 to a stop.

Brakes 26 are provided with the usual releasin springs 34, which of course are only cient strength to release the brakes with a holding when'no pressure is applied thereto, but in orderto release the brakes even against the pressure of the tail skid 30, and to prevent the application of the brakes whenever desired, I have provided a supplemental holdback cable 35 connected to ring 36, said holdback cable leading forward to a lever 37 (see Fig. 9). Lever 37 is provided in turn a pawl 38 adapted to engage a notch in a fixed block 39. Whenever foot-lever 37 is pushed forward by the operator, the cable 35 will cause a slack in the cables 27, which are forward of the ring 36, and any tension upon the rear cable 27 due 7 to the ressure" of the tail skid is transmitted throng said spring 32 directly to the footlever 37 instead of to the brakes 26, and consequently said brakes will not be oper-' ated. The holding pawl 38 of lever 37 may of course be disengaged and thus allow the brakes 2-6 to again be operated by the pressure of the skid 30.

The use of the brake prevention device 37 is desirable when starting-from the ground, because at this time the tail of the machine resting on the round might cause a de pression of the sliid 30 to cause an application of the brakes. Also it is desirable to have the brake prevention device in .op'era- .tion when the: machine first strikes the ground in alighting, because the cheking shock would e too great if the wheels hit the ground locked fast against rotation. It

is therefore preferable to have the wheels hit the ground while free to rotate and then gradually apply the'brake thereto by depressing the tail of the machine. 7

It is obvious that various modifications and changes may be made in the details of my construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as embodied in the claims. I

What I claim as new is 1. The combination with an aeroplane body,-of a landing frame arranged to fold up 'against;t-he same, said frame having landin. wheels carried at the lower portion thereo and having an upward extension pivotedtosaid aeroplane body, and another upwardextension slidably connected with said aeroplane bod guides on said aeroplane body for said .shdable extension, re-

" silient devices for holding said slidable extenslon in various adjusted positions, and

means under the control of the operator for .raising and lowering said landing frame.

2. The combination with an aeroplane body, of a landing frame arranged to fold up against the same, said frame having landin wheels carried at the lower portion thereof? and having an upward extension pivoted to said aeroplane body, and another upward extension slidably connected with said aeroplane body, guides on said aeroplane body for said slid-able extension, and 13( by its foot-pedal 40- 85 ing frame.

3. The combination with an aeroplane body, of alanding frame arranged toifold up against the same, landing wheels carried on said frame, braking means for said wheels, a tail skid mounted on said aeroplane body, and means operated by the pressure of said tail skid on the ground for applying the braking means to said landing wheels.

4. The combination with an aeroplane body, of a landing frame arranged to fold up against the same, landing wheels carried on said frame, braking means for said wheels, said frame having one extension pivoted to said aeroplane body and another extension slidably connected with saidjbody, means under the control of the operator for raising and lowering said landing frame, a tail skid mounted on said aeroplane body,

"and means operated by said tail skid for applying the braking means to said landing wheels.

5. In combination with an aeroplanebody of a landing frame having landing wheels carried thereon,'-braking means for said' wheels, a tail skid on said aeroplane body, and means operated by the full pressure of saidvtail skid upon the ground for automatically applying said braking 'means to said landing wheel 6. In combination with an aeroplane body, of a landing frame having landing Wheels carried thereon, braking means for said wheels, a tail skid on said aeroplane body, and means operated by the pressure of said tail skid upon the ground for applying said braking means to said landing wheels, said means comprising connections from said tail skid to said braking means, including a flexible cable and a resilient member.

In combination with an aeroplane body, of a landing frame having landing Wheels carried thereon, braking means for said wheels, a tail skid on said aeroplane body, means operated by the pressure of said tail skid upon the ground for applying said braking means to said landing wheels, and means under the, control of the operator for preventing the application ofsaid braking means by the ressure of said tail skid. 8. In combination with an aeroplane body, of a landing frame carrying landing wheels thereon, braking means for said landing wheels, a tail skid mounted on said aeroplane body connections from said tail skid to said bra ng means, including a flexible cable and a resilient member whereby the pressure of said tail skid on the ground causes an application of said brakingmeans, means under the control of the operatorfor preventing the application of said braking means by said tail skid, comprising a cable working in opposition'to said first named cable, and locking -means for holding said last named cable in adjusted osition.

Signed at New York, N. l day of June, 1916,

LLOYD s. ALLEN.

this 26th 

